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weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest when shall my Creator sanctify me, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face?

The Creator's Covenant.-"And the Lord said unto Enoch: As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfill the oath which I have made unto you concerning the children of Noah. And the day shall come that the earth shall rest.

"But before that day the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be among the children of men. But my people will I preserve."r

Another Zion Promised. "And righteousness will I send down out of heaven, and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem.

"And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other:

"And there shall be mine abode, and it shall be Zion, which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have

q, Moses 7:48.

r, Ib. vv. 60, 61.

made; and for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest."s

Awaiting its Return.-According to these teachings, the City of Enoch is now on a terrestrial plane, awaiting its return to Earth, when the season shall be ripe and the preparation complete for its reception. The change wrought upon its inhabitants by translation not being equivalent to resurrection, they will undergo a further change to prepare them for celestial glory. The Saints remaining on earth to meet the Lord will likewise be changed, not by the "sleep" of death, but "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," at the time of the Savior's coming. When he comes, Enoch's City will come with him, Zion from above blending with Zion from below, as spirit and body in the resurrection.

The Ancient Types the Modern. The Ancient Zion foreshadowed the Zion of the Last Days, with which it is destined to blend." In Enoch's day the Lord's people, consecrating to Him their all, became equal in earthly as in heavenly things; and the righteous unity resulting from that blest condition brought forth the peace and power of sanctity. So shall it be and more when the Lord brings again Zion.

s, Moses 7:62-64.

t, I Cor. 15:51. 52.

u, D. and C. 84:99-102.

ARTICLE SIXTEEN.

Noah and the Deluge.

Methuselah, Son of Promise.-God, having shown to Enoch the approaching utter destruction of Earth's wicked inhabitants, covenanted with the founder of the Sacred City that the repeopler of the devastated globe should be of his lineage. In order that this promise might not fail, Enoch's son, Methuselah, distinguished among men as the one who attained to the greatest age in mortality,a "was not taken" when Zion was translated, but remained to become the father of Lamech and grandfather of Noah."

Earth's Baptism.-The Deluge was Earth's baptism. Baptism symbolizes birth or creation. In a certain sense, our planet was "born of water and of the Spirit” at the very beginning. In Noah's day, which was reminiscent of that beginning, it experienced a rebirth, “a washing of regeneration," typical of a spiritual and fiery immersion yet

to come.

Like Unto Adam.—It devolved upon Noah to recommence, after the Flood,. the work begun by the great sire of the race under God's original command-the command to "multiply and replenish the earth." Noah's time, therefore, typified the period of the Creation. He, like Adam, "was the father of all living in his day, and to him was given the dominion.”d

The Flood Foretold.-Blest and ordained by Methusaleh when but ten years old, Noah, like his predecessors in

a, Gen. 5:27.

b, Moses 8:2-9.

c, Gen. 1:2, 9.

d, Hist. Ch. Vol. 3, p. 386.

the patriarchal line, was a prophet and a preacher of righteousness. The word of the Lord came to him, saying:

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"My spirit shall not always strive with man; his days shall be an hundred and twenty years; and if men do not repent, I will send in the floods upon them." They hearkened not, and God then decreed: "The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence, and behold I will destroy all flesh from off the earth."

Shem, Ham and Japheth.-Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth—naming them in the order usually given. Japheth, however, was the eldest, and Ham the youngest, of these brothers. They were among, the eight survivors of the Deluge ; "and of them was the whole earth overspread." Japheth peopled Europe, Shem Asia, and Ham Africa.

Noah's blessing upon Shem and Japheth, and his curse upon Canaan, son of Ham, are thus recorded:

"Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

"Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

"God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”i

The Curse upon Canaan.-Part of the curse upon Canaan was "a blackness," similar to that which had been placed upon "the seed of Cain." The curse also deprived the Canaanites of the Priesthood; though they were blessed

e, Moses 8:17, 30; Gen. 6:3,13.

f, Ib. 8:12; Gen. 10:21.

g, I Peter 3:20.

h, Gen. 9:19.

i, Ib. 9:22-27.

j, Ib. 4:15; Moses 7:8,22.

"with the blessings of the earth and with the blessings of wisdom."k

Ham's sin, which brought the curse upon Canaan-a sin vaguely hinted at in the sacred narrative-may not be fully known; but even if it were, there would still remain the unsolved problem of the punishment of a whole race for an offense committeed by one of its ancestors. It seems reasonable to infer that there was a larger cause, that the sin in question was not the main issue. Tradition has handed down something to that effect, but nothing conclusive of the question is to be found in the standard works of the Church. Of one thing we may rest assured: Canaan was not unjustly cursed, nor were the spirits who came through his lineage wrongly assigned. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Or, putting it inversely: Whatsoever a man reaps, that hath he sown. This rule applies to spirit life, as well as to life in the flesh.

Israel and the Gentiles.-From Shem came Abraham and the House of Israel; from Japheth, the Gentiles, founders of the most civilized and enlightened nations of modern times, including Great Britain, France, and the United States of America. How wonderfully God has "enlarged Japheth," the original Gentile!

Israel wields the powers of the Priesthood, and administers the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. These are his prerogatives. But the children of Japheth also have their mission a mission in statecraft and commerce, in science and art, in discovery, invention, and kindred activities.

It was the Gentiles who discovered and peopled Amerca: who fought for and won the freedom and independence of this chosen land, an event preparatory-though they knew it not to the founding of a government under which

k, Abr. 1:26.

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